Love Potion
by Eldr-Fire
Summary: Kakashi and Sakura are assigned to investigate an illegitimacy explosion in a remote village. Winner judges' choice of the V-day challenge for Sayurinomoe's Italian KakaSaku community! T for sexual themes and very mild language! KakaSaku.


This is for the Valentine's Day KakaSaku contest on an Italian KakaSaku community! (There's an English section of the contest too, though!) I would encourage everyone to vote because one of the prizes will be determined by popular vote. (And who wouldn't want an illustration by sayurinomoe? Check her out on Deviantart!) Here is the website address made FFN-friendly: _**kakasaku(dot)forumfree(dot)it **_Find where it says "Contest" in pink with a little star (it's like a forum subheading) and then go into the "International" section. The word limit was 4000, so I kind of had to squeeze it all down, but maybe one day I'll expand it!

Please enjoy and make sure to vote, even if it isn't for mine!

* * *

Naruto splayed his fingers across the map. A red dot stood out in the middle of a large area of green ink, cradled by the crook of his thumb.

"The town is called Anada," he explained. He traced his finger along the edge of the large forest surrounding the isolated village. "It's very small and pretty remote. We don't usually hear much from it; their main industry is lumber, and that's about it. However, we've recently been receiving some very strange reports."

"What sorts of reports?" Mission debriefings often began with "strange reports", but Naruto had been blushing throughout the entire meeting, which piqued Kakashi's curiosity a little more than usual.

"Uh... they're pretty weird." Naruto tugged at his collar. For a Hokage he got awfully bashful. "The matter first came to the daimyou's attention because two months ago, there was an alarming number of births there. What's more, a huge majority of them were illegitimate. That's pretty scandalous there. The daimyou sent in some government officials to investigate the situation."

Sakura leaned forward in her chair, frowning but clearly interested. Kakashi thought it was amusing that such scandal would catch her interest so; he cared little for such matters. "And what did they find?"

"Nothing," Naruto said flatly. "They all came back reporting a dizzying sense of passion, and some even refused to return to the capital because they had fallen madly in love with a woman there."

Kakashi cupped his chin in his hand, rubbing it thoughtfully. This was where the conspiracy or ninjutsu came in-- that's where the real excitement was. "Very intriguing."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. So it's your job to figure out what's going on. The daimyou delegated this to Konoha because he figures that if his men were hoodwinked, there must be a shinobi behind this."

"It sounds like a genjutsu," Sakura offered. "Have we seen anything like this before?"

Naruto was the technical authority figure, but they both looked to Kakashi, whose seniority presumably equaled greater knowledge of such things. He shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Well, you two should be extra careful, then," Naruto warned. "It could be harmless, but it could also be incredibly dangerous."

"Agreed," Kakashi said. "What starts out as manipulating lovebirds could turn into something on a much larger scale..."

Naruto stood up. He clasped his hands behind his back as he gazed firmly out the large window. "Your mission is to locate the source of this unnatural passion. If necessary, you should eliminate it. We don't want to take too many chances with something so foreign to us."

Sakura and Kakashi inclined their heads in understanding. "We can set out today," Kakashi said, rising from his chair. Sakura followed suit. "It's not too far from here, and the way there is all forested."

Naruto smiled at them from over his shoulder. "Good luck, guys!"

Sakura grinned, and Kakashi raised two fingers in what looked like the love child of a wave and salute.

Naruto wasn't worried. It was Valentine's Day, so he thought he'd give them a break with an easier mission. He trusted them to get to the bottom of this-- but most of all, he figured that they were just platonic teammates with absolutely no danger of getting cast under this mysterious spell. Kakashi-sensei was what, fifty? And Sakura was twenty so there was nothing to worry about. He nodded at his reflection in the window, proud of his logic and judgment.

* * *

Snow shook free from the branches as Kakashi and Sakura hopped from tree to tree. Sakura laughed, landing hard on a branch.

"This is so much fun! Look at how the snow falls!" On the next branch, she sent a surge of chakra to her feet. A minor avalanche tumbled onto the ground in her wake.

She turned to Kakashi, who was watching her with decisive reserve. "Come on, it's fun!" She caught a knowing twinkle in his eye, but before he could say anything, her foot crunched through the next branch. With a loud yelp she fell into a large snow drift on the ground.

Her legs stuck out awkwardly in the air, leaving her stuck in a very unladylike position. Kakashi laughed as he approached her, grabbing her ankles to pull her out of the snow. She jerked away from his grip as soon as he had righted her.

"Shut up," she seethed. He ignored her and continued to chuckle as she returned to the trees, this time with a more prudent application of chakra.

"Poor Sakura," Kakashi taunted. "Spending Valentine's Day ankles up in the snow."

Sakura groaned. "Ugh, it's Valentine's Day? I had completely forgotten." She slanted a suspicious glare at him. "Don't expect any chocolate."

The fabric of his mask stretched as his mouth curled into a smirk. "Don't you want a White Day gift?"

Sakura stuck her nose up, pulling ahead of him. "You should give me one, anyway."

"Mah, Sakura, that's not how it works!"

"I grace you with my presence. Isn't that enough?"

"Couldn't I say the same to you?"

"Absolutely not," Sakura sniffed. "You're not very good company."

Kakashi pouted. "Am I not debonair enough for you?"

"Debonair!" Sakura snorted derisively. "More like morose and socially handicapped!"

Kakashi affected deep hurt in his voice. "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Case in point."

Broodiness radiated off Kakashi in viscous waves. "I hope you accidentally fall in love with some ugly old man when we get to Adana."

"And you some warty hag."

"Warts will be beauty marks compared to your newfound lover's bellybutton, which will ooze something with the consistency of gelatin and the odor of flatulence on a summer afternoon."

Sakura nearly missed a step, her face contorted in revulsion. "You're a freak!"

Kakashi burst out in a peal of laughter. Sakura watched with apprehensive aversion as he nearly tripped over his own feet, caught up in his mirth.

* * *

Kakashi winced against the sound of sandals scraping against the welcome mat as they entered the inn. That noise always made his teeth hurt. Sakura only mocked him when he shared this information with her.

A woman smiled at them from behind the front desk. "Welcome to Adana!" She was beaming at Kakashi. Hazel eyes sparkled with pleasure, as if her joy at seeing him had manifested into crystalline beams of light that simply couldn't be contained by the umbrella of her irises. She ignored Sakura.

Kakashi felt himself strangely drawn in by her gaze. He normally was not one to pay attention to something like, say, how waves of dark brown hair would fall on a woman's shoulders, looping in large curls at the end and complementing her pale blue sleeves. Nor would he have observed so acutely the way freckles peppered her face across the pink blush dusting her cheekbones.

He approached the desk, unable to fight the smile that spread across his cheeks. Resting an elbow on the table, he looked down pleasantly at the secretary. "Mind if we ask you a few questions?" He employed a deeper voice atypical of his usual impersonal interactions. He could see its effect on the secretary-- he even fancied he could hear the increased pace of her heartbeat. She seemed flattered by his attention, her brilliant eyes darting around nervously after he addressed her.

"Sure, what sorts of questions?" She tucked a mahogany lock behind her ear, locking her eyes onto Kakashi's.

"Have you noticed anything... unusual lately? About the people here?"

She beamed. "Everyone has been so happy this past year!"

"Happy?"

Nodding vigorously, she elaborated, "Yes! There's just been so much good feeling bubbling about here." She passed her hand across the pronounced curve of her belly, and Kakashi realized that she was pregnant. Somehow it made her beauty only more enchanting. She wasn't wearing a ring.

"Have you noticed a decease-- decrease in crime?" He was surprised to see that he was having a hard time keeping his words straight. Normally he was so collected.

The woman laughed happily. "For certain!"

Kakashi flashed her a masked smile. He was about to reply when he felt a warm arm encircle his waist, giving him a tight squeeze. He blushed.

"Time to go!" Sakura's voice was strained in poorly concealed annoyance, but there was a beauty there he had scarcely noticed before. Something about her tone was so effervescent, maddening and at the same time ebullient, much like the woman herself.

The woman behind the desk looked disappointed, frowning at Sakura's attachment to Kakashi. "Oh, all right." She gave Kakashi one last, hopeful smile. "Come back if you have any more questions!"

Sakura firmly guided him out the door, slamming it shut behind her. The sheer force of the action titillated him, sending an appreciative shiver down his spine. She marched him several yards down the slushy road before rounding on him angrily, her face flushed.

"What the hell was that, Romeo?" she spat. "You were practically gushing!"

"Uh..." Truthfully, Kakashi couldn't remember what it had been about that inn woman. Right now, he was much more interested in the tight grip Sakura still had on his waist. Something primal and hot stirred in the pit of his stomach, and his pants were tightening around a growing bulge.

It took a great deal of willpower to extract himself from her grip: she seemed genuinely surprised when he did, as if she hadn't even noticed her lingering presence there. Flustered and a startling shade of magenta, she quickly looped her hands behind her back and stared resolutely to the side. Her profile was striking.

Both of them had forgotten the question. Kakashi coughed, drawing his cloak closer around himself so as to disguise his arousal. "So, ah, she seemed to be completely hoodwinked."

Sakura nodded stiffly. She turned her green eyes on him, pupils dilated. "Like everyone else. Look at that, every other woman is pregnant." Kakashi followed her gaze to a group of giggling women, walking with baskets on their arms and led by their protuberant stomachs. Other women were waddling on roads farther down the way, some being trailed after by doting men.

Kakashi recognized that his heightened sensory experiences right now were probably a result of whatever was causing this village's very passionate problem, but that didn't make his sensations feel any less real. He was very aware of the rise and fall of Sakura's chest underneath her cherry colored cloak, as well as the pink hue to her cheeks.

"Let's go," she said suddenly. She started walking briskly down the street. Kakashi followed, wishing that he had not chosen sandals for this snowy mission. As he strode behind her, he could not help but notice the way her hips swayed hypnotically with each stout-legged step.

They passed countless mooning couples as they worked their way to the outskirts of the small village. Kakashi got a flash of the most attractive traits of each woman as they passed, but it vanished as he moved swiftly past.

More pressing was the increasing notice his body was paying to Sakura's. The farther they got from the center of the village, the stronger her scent was as it wafted towards him in dizzying waves. He noticed each swish of her hair over her upper back, each movement of the fabric of her cloak over her unusually pronounced curves. Their progression towards the surrounding forest seemed to enhance every beautiful quality about Sakura, to the point where it was too much of a distraction. He pulled slightly ahead of her.

"How do you think we'll find it?" Sakura asked. Her breath hitched a little in her throat; Kakashi's neck twitched, but he resisted the urge to look at her.

"Oh, I'll know," he growled. He heard Sakura's sharp intake of breath, and he blushed again-- he hadn't meant for it to come out sounding like that. He tugged at his collar, uncomfortably warm.

Sakura did not challenge him, but they walked together in silence. They had soon left the village and crossed into the woods. Pines with branches blanketed in snow towered over them, shielding them from the cloudy skies above with a spiny canopy. There was a definite change of atmosphere in the forest. The air felt thicker and smelled of running water and wet grass.

... Wait a minute.

"Sakura, do you smell that?"

He watched her pert little nose, and its profile melted into the rest of her face as she turned to face him. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply.

"It smells like... flowers?"

A hearty sniff confirmed her hunch. Kakashi frowned, scratching his chin. "That's very strange. Let's keep moving."

They cautiously resumed their trek, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Soon, individual flower scents started to distinguish themselves, and Kakashi drank in the charming aromas of sweet peas and roses.

Abruptly, he stopped. Sakura turned, curiosity sharpened by an edge of caution in her bright green eyes.

"Do you hear... birds?"

They fell silent. Just barely, Kakashi could make out a chorus of chirps. It was heavily concentrated and reminded him eerily of Chidori.

This was decidedly bizarre. Wordlessly they continued, winding through the trees with greater haste than before. As they moved deeper into the forest, the snow began to squelch beneath their sandals, until they saw a few blades of grass poking defiantly through the slush. Deeply confused, Kakashi pushed his headband up, squeezing shut his natural eye.

His vision was foggy. The chakra he saw was swirling in unnatural, elaborate curls, and the air itself seemed to be alive with chakra. He clasped his hands together.

"Kai!"

Nothing changed.

Sakura had stopped and was watching him. "Anything happen?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's not genjutsu."

Water dripped down on Sakura's face. She let out a little gasp as it splashed on her nose, her eyes crossing comically. "I can't believe it, the snow is really melting!" She rubbed the liquid off her nose and frowned at Kakashi, who was having a very hard time controlling himself. Hearing her sharp intake of breath, seeing her eyes wide as she gasped...

He coughed. They really needed to get to the bottom of this. "Come on," he said roughly, pushing past her. He immediately realized that brushing against her had been a bad idea; he had felt a spark of warmth that made his erection twitch excitedly, and a permanent blush seemed to have settled behind his mask.

She hurried after him. The sound of birds grew in a slow crescendo, to the point where it was nearly maddening. The temperature was also rising steadily, and Kakashi had to loosen his cloak from its vice grip around his neck. Everything was melting.

"Kakashi, look!"

Sakura was pointing slightly to their right. To his astonishment, Kakashi saw that thin streaks of pink smoke were wisping through the trees, curling around each trunk in a loose embrace.

They broke into a jog, eager to investigate. As they neared the smoke, the heat increased exponentially, until they had no choice but to remove their cloaks and sling them over their shoulders. Their feet splashed in puddles as they ran.

The smoke meandered towards them at a leisurely pace until it washed over them. It did not make them cough; in fact, it wasn't tangible. Kakashi felt dizzy, and his cock pressed harder against his pants. Worse, he was more aware than ever of Sakura's breathing and what he was probably tricking himself into thinking was the scent of arousal. Really, he felt ridiculous. What the hell kind of mission was this?

Despite these very pressing distractions, they hurried forward, following the path of the pink smoke until they came to the edge of a clearing. Kakashi squinted through the haze to see a small, poorly constructed metal factory centered there. It was surrounded by a lush garden of flowers and verdant grass. Really, the "factory" was not much to speak of, and most of it was obscured by the abnormal plant growth. Most disturbingly, the place was entirely covered in birds.

"They must have all come here instead of going south for the winter," Kakashi whispered.

It was hard to hear her voice over the cacophony of birdsong. "What do you want to do?"

Kakashi shifted his weight to the other foot in an attempt to alleviate his discomfort. "I just want to get this over with."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, screw protocol. Naruto told us we could eliminate it if we saw fit."

"Hmm. We should probably investigate a little before destroying it, though."

* * *

Outfitted with a walkie talkie, Kakashi edged along the back of the factory. There were no sentinels, which was making this painfully easy so far, but he wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down. He had tracked the origin of the pink fumes to a vent in the back. After losing a hurried game of rock paper scissors, he had been given the job of tracing the amorous fumes, while Sakura got the much more desirable task of investigating the mastermind.

* * *

Lord Barentain was a foolish man. It had taken all of ten minutes to track down his study, where he was sitting at a table and feverishly pushing beads about an abacus. He was muttering values to himself before scribbling them down on a scroll. Sakura knew his name because it was scratched onto an impressive piece of parchment nailed to the front of his desk, complete with an arrow piercing a heart as the final flourish. It was difficult to read chakra in this fuzzy atmosphere, but he couldn't have been more than a chuunin. He looked about forty years old, judging by the wild gray streaks in his gravity-defying black hair. Really, it was hard not to burst out laughing at the sight of it: It had been fashioned into a heart shape, sticking up a foot above his head.

Sakura disguised her chakra and appearance so that she could keep herself hidden while she observed him, blending into the wall.

"Birdsong," he grunted. "Needs more birdsong..." He scratched out a line.

As far as she could tell, there was no science to what he was doing. He had charts and recipes tacked to the wall; she did her best to study them. Whatever he was doing, it was extremely experimental. She was inclined to believe that he was more than a little mad as she watched his hair become increasingly frazzled, strands escaping the heavily gelled shape as his scribblings became more and more feverish. He was filling out a table that matched liquid measurements with prices.

That was it. He was selling something. This potion that his recipes on the wall described was his product, and Anada was just getting the pollution from the factory.

She quickly left the room, pressing the button on her walkie talkie once she was out of Barentain's earshot. "Kakashi, are you there? Over."

Several seconds later, the device crackled as Kakashi sighed perturbedly. "Yes? Uh, over."

"I found the guy. His name is Lord Barantein." She snorted. "Did you find what he's selling? Over."

"Selling?" Sakura's heart jumped nervously at the sound of his voice. She tugged down her shirt before realizing that of course he couldn't see her. "Well, that makes sense." His breath sounded very labored, which made Sakura's belly squirm with arousal. They really needed to get this over with soon; the journey through the forest had been awkward enough, but now she was getting a little too comfortable with this desire bubbling in her stomach. She had been startled when she had felt the first tingling of attraction and twinge of jealousy in the inn, and doubly so when Kakashi seemed to be having the same reaction.

"There's some sort of potion here," Kakashi continued, sounding as if each word pained him. "It's very, um..." He coughed. "Well, it's making things very uncomfortable here, and I would very much like to--"

"How do I get there?"

"Uh, I don't think--"

"I'm the medic, I deal with 'potions' all the time. Now tell me how to get there!"

Another crackly sigh. "Okay, it's the room farthest in the back. If you go outside, it's really easy to get in through a vent."

Sakura got outside easily enough and circled around to the vent in back. Kakashi had already loosened it, so she wriggled inside with ease.

Inside was a completely different story. She was bathing in the roseate smoke, caressed by its oddly familiar fragrance: Pine and wet dog had never smelled better. She crawled through the short metal tunnel, trying to ignore how the tight space only enhanced her heated feelings.

Gasping for breath, she emerged into a circular room. In here, the fog was thicker and redder, blurring her vision with its subdued magenta hue. She clambered out of the vent and brushed herself off as she straightened. "Kakashi?"

A grunt from the side greeted her. She turned to see Kakashi; he was hunched over a large black cauldron, gripping the raised edge tightly. His knuckles were white with strain.

"Um... Kakashi?" She cautiously approached him, and was assaulted by a wave of pleasure. The fumes from the cauldron rose in dizzying waves, bowling her over with powerful attraction. She stumbled, grabbing the cauldron for support.

"What the hell?" she spluttered. She was having a hard time breathing, chest rising and falling harshly as she tried to breathe in clean air. But all she could get was the overwhelming aroma of Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi--

"Kakashi!" He snapped his head towards her in surprise. His pupils were unusually dilated. She swallowed.

"W-why don't you go take care of Barentain?" Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him watch her lips. They were achingly close.

"Uh, we... don't we..." He coughed again. Of her own accord, Sakura glanced downwards and felt a fresh wave of arousal as she saw the bulge in his pants.

She emitted a high-pitched laugh. "I looked at some of his charts, and I think this is some strange experimental jutsu. I think he's harnessing the natural chakra of these birds and the plants to create this stuff-- a bastardized, temperamental version of Naruto's sage jutsu. Honestly, though, I think he just got lucky."

Kakashi gulped loudly. "Lucky. Right. Okay, bye." He very quickly made his escape.

Sakura fanned herself but set her mind on her task. She needed to evaluate this potion and decide whether it was worth taking home while Kakashi eliminated Barentain.

* * *

They met up south of the factory remains. Sakura touched down lightly underneath the tree where Kakashi sat reading.

He closed his book, smiling down at her. "Don't you think that was a little overkill?"

She glanced over her shoulder at the black smoke rising. "Maybe. I'm assuming you took care of Barentain?"

He nodded and slid off the branch, landing in front of her. The heat had vanished with the factory. Suppressing a shiver, he put on his cloak. He tried very hard not to look at the effect the cold was having on Sakura's breasts through the thin fabric of her shirt.

Dammit, his erection was still there. Wasn't that supposed to be destroyed with the potion?

"Uh, not exactly. He kind of took care of himself-- when I showed up he blew himself up with his own offensive potion."

"Oh, okay. I got the recipe for his potion."

Sakura must have taken a sample. That was the only possible explanation for his prolonged heightened arousal, right? Granted, the plants had withered and the birds had fled, but surely...

Her teeth were chattering. Impulsively Kakashi reached for her cloak and wrapped it around her, gently tying a knot at her collar. His fingers twitched longingly at her smooth, peach-colored neck.

"Did you take a sample?" he asked softly.

She slowly slid her shining green eyes to meet his smoldering gray one.

"No."


End file.
